I have been following the Google China news with fascination. There are really a number of significant aspects to the story, but I’ll focus on one for now. That is the concept of control.
Think of China as a brand. Think of Google as a medium for disseminating information, and all its customers in China as stakeholders. This shouldn’t be hard, as I am stating the obvious.
The point is, China is trying to control what its customers (the Chinese people) see through the media. They have demanded that Google comply with their censorship rules (something I believe Google agreed to, somewhat reluctantly, as the cost of breaking into the huge and promising market in China). Worse, and the source of the latest flap, China employed very sophisticated technology to hack into Google e-mails in an attempt to thwart content they deemed subversive or pornographic.
Google, recovering some integrity, (remember, they agreed to censorship) threatened to pull out of the country. But the customers, the Chinese people, desperately want Google to remain, to the point where they are laying flowers on the Google sign outside the company’s headquarters in Beijing. Poignant, really.
What’s the lesson for EMS companies and other B2B brands? You cannot, repeat, cannot, control what your stakeholders see or hear any more even if you don’t like what it is. The Internet, social media, instantaneous news and our way of life in the 21st century simply preclude the concept of control. China is like brands of yore, sending out carefully crafted messages to the marketplace through tightly controlled channels.
That kind of marketing is now really over. We must recognize and embrace the messages our customers are sending us. We must engage in the conversation.
If people are going to blog unhappy things about your brand, learn from it. But don’t try to stop it. Because surely it’s a losing battle, even for a powerhouse like China, to try and keep the lid on any longer.I have been following the Google China news with fascination. There are really a number of significant aspects to the story, but I’ll focus on one for now. That is the concept of control.
Think of China as a brand. Think of Google as a medium for disseminating information, and all its customers in China as stakeholders. This shouldn’t be hard, as I am stating the obvious.
The point is, China is trying to control what its customers (the Chinese people) see through the media. They have demanded that Google comply with their censorship rules (something I believe Google agreed to, somewhat reluctantly, as the cost of breaking into the huge and promising market in China). Worse, and the source of the latest flap, China employed very sophisticated technology to hack into Google e-mails in an attempt to thwart content they deemed subversive or pornographic.
Google, recovering some integrity, (remember, they agreed to censorship) threatened to pull out of the country. But the customers, the Chinese people, desperately want Google to remain, to the point where they are laying flowers on the Google sign outside the company’s headquarters in Beijing. Poignant, really.
What’s the lesson for B2B brands? You cannot, repeat, cannot, control what your stakeholders see or hear any more even if you don’t like what it is. The Internet, social media, instantaneous news and our way of life in the 21st century simply preclude the concept of control. China is like brands of yore, sending out carefully crafted messages to the marketplace through tightly controlled channels.
That kind of marketing is now really over. We must recognize and embrace the messages our customers are sending us. We must engage in the conversation.
If people are going to blog unhappy things about your brand, learn from it. But don’t try to stop it. Because surely it’s a losing battle, even for a powerhouse like China, to try and keep the lid on any longer.
